Childhood Friends
by Agent Mozell
Summary: "Keith and Shiro as childhood friends" "alien Keith theory"


A thick cloak veiled their face and body as he walked through the town. The cloaked figure stopped at the occasional stand to buy some supplies, always making sure that they were hidden from view. It was strange, weren't they overheating in that thing? Shiro wouldn't be able to do it, and he didn't understand how this kid could either.

At least, he thought they were a kid. They were short enough to be one at least. If they were a kid they were awfully responsible for their age. Shiro's mind was too busy wondering when he could play or when he'd be able to see the night sky next to care. Recently though, his mind drifted to this mysterious stranger and Shiro's thoughts expanded to include the strangeness of them.

The stranger seemed to notice him staring and turned in his direction. Shiro quickly hid; did the stranger see him staring? That was really rude of him and he was aware of it, but he couldn't help it. He looked up from his hiding place and noticed the stranger was gone. Shiro let out a relieved sigh—that was close.

"Can I help you?" The voice was small and came from his right side.

Shiro let out a yelp and fell over. It was the stranger.

"I'm sorry for staring!" He shouted, drawing attention to the two of them.

The stranger quickly grew flustered at the attention, "Shhhh! It's fine! Really! I just thought you needed something!"

Shiro calmed down just enough to recognize the voice as a boy's voice, a young boy like him from the sound of it.

The boy held out his hand to help Shiro up, he was even wearing gloves. Wasn't he hot in all that?

Shiro took the help and brushed himself off when he stood up. He looked up to apologize again when he noticed the boy's appearance. Shiro and the boy were the same height, so it made it easy to see under the hood of the cloak. He didn't suppose the boy had noticed that quite yet.

The boy's skin was purple, his hair a darker shade of it, his ears was elongated and his eyes—his eyes were what stood out most of all, they were a very bright yellow. He even seemed to have a snaggletooth of sorts since a small tooth was peeking out from his mouth. Shiro was captivated by his appearance; it was so different from how he and everyone else in the town looked.

The boy looked confused at Shiro's gaping stare before the notion hit him. He pulled down his hood more.

"If you're okay then I have to go." The boy was already turning to leave as he spoke, his voice seemed to shake a little.

"Ah, wait!" Shiro grabbed what he thought was the boy's arm, but only grabbed the back of the cloak, pulling it off his head. The boy stared wide eyed and afraid at Shiro for a few moments, then quickly covered his face before running off into the alley.

He felt bad; he didn't mean to do that. Quickly Shiro went after him to apologize. He followed, just a few steps behind with the gap between them widening, this kid was _fast_. He seemed to know the alleyway like the back of his hand too. More than once Shiro tripped over something or ran into a wall. Finally he ran into the boy, who seemed exhausted.

"Why are you following me?" He demanded, forgetting that his hood was off. His hair seemed to be bristling like a cat. "Did someone send you to catch me or something? Get lost!"

Shiro put his hands up and shook his head furiously. "No! I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to stare and I didn't mean to pull off your hood either." The words tumbled out faster than he could keep up with, Shiro ended up biting his tongue a couple times as he spoke. "I'm really sorry. I would always see you in town and I guess I got curious cause of your clothes, I mean, aren't you hot in that? It's the middle of summer!"

The boy looked shocked at first and then sighed, "The heat doesn't matter, I don't have full control over my disguise so I have to wear this."

"Disguise?"

"Never mind that, just get lost! Your intruding on my home."

Home? Shiro looked around and saw that around them was a makeshift camp. Most things were dirty or makeshift, there seemed to be some semblance of organization, but not enough to make it look like a place for anyone, let alone a kid, to live.

"If you're done sightseeing, leave!" The boy demanded.

"My names Takeshi Shirogane, most people call me Shiro." This seemed to catch the boy off guard, "Would you like to see something cool tonight?"

"Wh-what?" The boy seemed flabbergasted at Shiro and his offer. His face contorted with confusion. "Sorry, but I don't make friends with humans."

"You don't have to be my friend to see something cool."

The boy looked even more confused. He looked Shiro up and down as if trying to figure out what he was planning. "…okay." He said after taking a long time to deliberate and answer.

"Cool! Mind if we hang out until then?" Shiro grinned widely.

"What?" The boy looked flustered again, "You may not stay here!"

"Then come to my house!"

"I'm not a human! I can't even look like one for a long time!"

"Oh come on! I wouldn't be able to find this place again, how can I show you the cool thing tonight if I can't find you?"

"Oh fine!" The boy threw his shopping bags down and his hands up in surrender. He pulled up his hood.

Shiro felt proud of himself as he followed the boy back to the main road. They made idle chatter along the way; the boy's name was Keith. As a human he had black hair and strange purple-blue eyes, his skin was a normal color too. He took off his gloves, but left his hood on ("just in case" apparently). Keith ignored most of his questions about what he was. He just said that he was an alien and his mother left him on earth with a foster family when he was born. The family hated him though and treated him badly, so the first chance he got he ran away to live on his own.

Shiro was quiet as Keith answered his questions; there was a lot of spite in his voice when he mentioned his former foster family. He didn't blame him. If he were in Keith's place he'd probably feel the same way.

"How about you live with me?"

Keith jumped back, he looked angry. "No way." His voice was firm.

"Alright! Just a suggestion. It'll always be open if you ever change your mind."

Keith made a noise and fell behind Shiro as he led his way to his house. When they got there, introductions were short and Keith (who'd removed his hood) was led to Shiro's room and Shiro left to get snacks for them. Keith looked around the room, he saw a TV, a bed side table, a bed, and the walls were decorated with so many things about space he almost missed the telescope and bag in the corner of the room. There were a lot of different charts on the floor; they looked like they were star charts.

Keith was so engrossed with them he didn't realize his disguise had fallen and that Shiro had come back to the room. The star charts seemed to follow their movements and compare them to how they were in the past. It was impressive to say the least.

"Like them?" Shiro laughed when Keith jumped at the sound of his voice. "Seems weird that I'd have such an interest in space doesn't it? Truth be told, I'd love to become a pilot when I get older." Shiro closed his eyes and dreamt about it. Joining the garrison and becoming a pilot for space missions had become the dream he aimed for.

Keith looked back at the charts, "They are interesting and…being a pilot sounds cool…" Shiro had to stare this time, Keith was _smiling_.

Shiro felt something weird, Keith looked really cute when he smiled.

He ended up telling Keith all about the star movements he noticed over the course of thousands of years. Keith's ears twitched with delight and eyes sparkled with interest. It was as if nobody ever told him anything like this. He still seemed a little tense by the time evening came along, but it was considerably less than when they met earlier that day.

"We should get going," Shiro said, looking at the time. "Think you can look human for a bit?"

Keith nodded and changed, eyes closed as he concentrated on his human disguise. When he was done Shiro led him downstairs and out the door after calling to his parents he'd be back shortly. Shiro led him along the empty streets in silence. Keith seemed anxious when they got to the edge of town.

"Where are we going?" Keith asked, his voice was uneven and filled with nerves.

"To my secret spot." Shiro said.

They went out into the forest and after a few turns here and there they arrived to a small clearing. The trees were tall and the sky was clear above them. The stars slowly showed themselves as night came more and more. Shiro laid down on the ground and stared up at the clear night sky.

"Let's see, it should be starting soon." He muttered.

"What should be?"

Shiro looked over at him and grinned without answering. Keith eventually lay down next to him. They waited in silence for what seemed like forever when something streaked across the sky. Shiro saw Keith sit up from the corner of his eye as more began to cross the sky.

"Wh-what are those?" He sounded just how he looked—in complete awe.

"Meteors! Tonight's a meteor shower! Pretty cool, huh?" Shiro said, but he didn't think Keith heard him, already his human looks faded away as he focused on the meteors streaking across the sky.

Shiro turned his own attention to them, he felt happy that he could show Keith this. He silently wished that this moment would last a little while longer.

Almost a year had passed since then, somehow they'd become friends along the way. Keith got better at his human disguise and was able to go out without his cloak for longer periods of time than before. They were playing hide-and-seek with other children when Shiro brought the idea that Keith live with them again.

"I'm sorry but, mom already knows about your situation." Keith flashed a glare at him, his eyes flashing yellow. "I made her promise not to tell anyone or you, don't worry!" That didn't seem to make him happier, but he turned his attention back to the game. "Anyway, she and dad would love it if you decided to live with us."

Keith was quiet for a couple moments before speaking again, "I…I don't know Takeshi. I don't want them to know about…you know."

Shiro nodded, playing with the other children like this had been a fiasco in itself and Keith still seemed to cling to him despite interacting with others. Keith seemed adamant not to get close to other humans, thinking them all as bad as his former foster family. "We don't have to tell them, but I think they'd feel better if you lived with us." He would to, but Shiro didn't mention that. "Come on Keith, it'd be lots of fun! We can go stargazing anytime without having to set up different meeting places.

"True…" Keith seemed to be thinking about it when a girl from the neighborhood found them and began to chase them around the park. They managed to lose her when another kid jumped out and scared her.

"It's just…" Keith looked at Shiro, he looked uncertain about something. "What if they do find out? I'm afraid they won't be like you."

"Keith…" Shiro smiled and put a hand on his face, "We can think about that later! I'm sure they'd love you just the same."

Keith sighed and nodded, "Okay…"

"Yes!" Shiro exclaimed, giving them away and losing the game at the same time.

When the game was over they went to Keith's "house" and grabbed everything he needed to move in. There wasn't much so they sent most of the afternoon in Shiro's bedroom. Keith was looking at some books, a puzzled look on his face.

"Takeshi, what kind of book is this?" He held up a book with an old fashioned cover, the title was a fairy tale he'd forgotten about.

"Oh, that's a book of fairy tales."

"Fairy tales? What're those?"

"They're fictional stories, mom and dad used to read them to me for bed time." Shiro smiled at him, "Want me to read you some?"

Keith blushed a little; his ears began to elongate a little. "Yeah…"

Shiro took the book from Keith and turned to a random story and read it aloud. Keith leaned against him as he read. Every now and then he would ask a question such as "what's a dragon?" or "what's a prince?" Around the fourth story Keith asked a question that caught him off guard for once.

"What does it mean when the price says 'I love you'?" Keith's eyes looked at him expectantly.

Shiro felt himself blush a little bit, "Oh well, it means that he really likes her and wants to be with her forever and ever!" Keith still looked a little confused. "For instance, if you have someone that makes your heart go wild when you think about them, like umm, like it just flutters and you get really happy because they're really important to you."

Keith's eyes widened a little and he seemed lost in thought before speaking again, "I see…"

"Is that still confusing for you?"

Keith shook his head and Shiro smiled, "No but, Takeshi,"

"Yeah?" Shiro looked at him; he still looked like he was trying to find the right words.

"Can I love you?" He sounded like he had nothing but innocent intentions for it, but the question still made him red in the face.

Shiro used the book to cover half of his face. How was he supposed to answer that? Especially in this kind of situation.

"Takeshi?" Keith looked worried, "I said something weird, I'm sorry."

"Ah! No! It's not that!" Shiro spluttered, "I…I guess its okay. I mean…if you let me love you too."

It was Keith's turn to get flustered. "Y-yeah! That's fine!"

Shiro pulled Keith's cloak over his head; suddenly the air was really awkward around them. "I-I think that's enough story time, want to go back outside?"

"Yeah…can I have a moment to…?"

Shiro held him close, grinning like usual. "Take as long as you want."


End file.
